There's a CBA draft coming up Tuesday. One rumor I hear is that the following teams will be present:

Albany

Atlanta

Butte

Great Falls

Indiana

Minot

Yakama

Michigan is quite dead, and broken up in the courts from last I heard. Gary is all but dead. Rockford meekly went away. The writing was on SoCal's wall when San Jose bailed. Florida is pretty much a "never was."

I'll be surprised if the league gets off the ground this year, frankly. I'm certainly surprised Yakama made it this far, although Rony Turiaf (of Gonzaga fame) playing a rehab stint in Yakama drew some crowds.

Last edited by pounder on Wed Sep 20, 2006 3:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

When I made my last post, I forgot that the rumor included three new teams.

Welcome Pittsburgh, Utah, and Vancouver BC. Pittsburgh's entry is the ABA Xplosion, just another team bailing out of that dog show; they're probably still playing in Mellon (ick). Utah will play at Salt Lake Community College (me not like). Vancouver will play at the Agrodome on the PNE grounds near the Canucks' former home Pacific Coliseum (me like better, but market + ownership doesn't strike me as optimal).

The CBA website says hello to the new teams, supposedly drafts today, but still hasn't updated the list of teams from last year.

BTW, now that the draft is over, Vancouver and Atlanta have already gone on "hiatus."

Michael Tuckman created a hullabaloo the first time he supposedly established a CBA team in Bellevue (supposedly had a community college gym lined up... ixnay), then actually managed to finish a couple ABA seasons with Bellevue, and seems to have bailed on that while promising not only Vancouver, but Seattle and Bend OR NEXT year. Simply stated, don't count those chickens before they hatch.

This CBA looks like it's living a last, desperate year. It's merely the second or third straight year I've said that. I'll get it right one of these days. The ABA, BTW, has deserved to die for four years now. The NBDL arguably deserved to die on the southeastern vine they were on, though you've seen my comments about NBA money.

BTW, I'd like to know why the CBA website cares to show Atlanta and Vancouver as "next year teams" and neglects that it announced the same for Bend, Seattle, Southern California, and Florida. See where I'm going with this?

Last edited by pounder on Mon Oct 23, 2006 7:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The D-League has already officially lined up Des Moines, Orem, and Rio Grande Valley for next year.

There's a rumor that Yakama (which survives despite my protestations) is giving the D-League consideration. A naysayer makes a point by saying that the $250,000 rights fee and other "startup" costs might be too much for the Yakama tribe. Stay tuned, I suppose.

I hear about attendance issues in Fort Worth and Albuquerque. The oddity here is that the Los Angeles team actually plays in Staples Center and supposedly does NOT sell tickets outside people who already hold Lakers tickets. Makes me wonder if the Lakers want to start up the development model MLS is carrying forward from Europe.

If the D-Legue doesn't lose any teams in the next offseason, I do wonder if "30 teams for 30 parents" isn't close behind. It's too soon to presume the D-League can keep all their teams.

The D-League Showcase was held in Boise this year, so I managed to catch a few games and read up a bit on some of the talk around the league.

Some of the talk centered on the Lakers' ownership of the D-fenders and San Antonio's purchase last summer of the Austin Toros. Arguably, they are two of the best teams in the league, even after having a bit more player turnover than other D-League teams. Coming out of this, cities are seen angling to host D-League teams, specifically for Cleveland and Boston, with rumors of others under consideration (including Dallas and Portland, from what I understand).

Reno has announced an expansion for next year in the rather compact Events Center downtown (I'd seen it from the outside, didn't know it could hold basketball, but it's held rodeo, shockingly... and I'm not talking about the Livestock Events Center a bit to the east).

I don't know if 30 for 30 is destined, but there's apparent movement toward TEAM control of D-League teams, vice NBA control.

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